re: A tribute to the haslett era

I think the key point that will be remembered from the Haslett era is mediocrity. After the success of the first season, the Saints finished around 8-8 almost every season until the collapse of the Katrina season in 2005 when they went 3-13.

I will never forget the 2002 season, when at one point the Saints were 7-2, and it got to the point where all they had to do was win one of their final three games to qualify for the playoffs. All three teams they played against, the Vikings, Bengals, and Panthers, in those final three games, none of them were playoff bound, and yet the Saints lost all three of those games. That pretty much sums up the Haslett era, coulda woulda shoulda, just inconsistency all around and mediocrity.

Jim Haslett did lead the Saints to their first ever playoff win, and as a Saints fan, I will always be thankful for that, as all Saints fans are. But other than that, Jim Mora was a much more successful coach as he at least led the Saints to the playoffs more than once!

So let's just say Sean Payton was a huge upgrade over Haslett as since Payton was hired, we have won a Super Bowl. That is all

re: A tribute to the haslett era (Posted on 5/2/13 at 11:46 am to Fox Mulder)

People keep calling Haslett mediocre. I suppose that is true, but I think some more context is needed. Mediocre was the second best the Saints had ever been back then. Basically you had a pretty good era with Mora and besides that the rest of the Saints history was absolutely terrible.

re: A tribute to the haslett era (Posted on 5/2/13 at 11:49 am to GumBro Jackson)

Haslett laid a foundation in bringing the franchise to the next level. As mediocre as he was, he changed the image of the franchise and took a step forward. How big of a step is debatable, but at least it was a step forward.

re: A tribute to the haslett era (Posted on 5/2/13 at 1:03 pm to Fox Mulder)

You make some good points FoxMulder, you're absolutely right, Jim Haslett deserves a lot of credit for not abandoning the Saints during the Katrina season. I'm definitely thankful he didn't pull a "Bobby Petrino" on the Saints, and I think it is very cool that he stayed with them through that difficult year.

And yes, he did leave the Saints in a much better state than Ditka had, at least Haslett gave the Saints' fans hope every year, unlike Ditka, who was just a disaster as the Saints' head coach. The down-side is that although Haslett helped make the Saints contenders, the frustrating part was the Saints falling short every year due to inconsistent play.

The timing couldn't have been better for Drew Brees and Sean Payton to come together when they did in 2006, it was and still continues to be a match made in Heaven. So I thank Haslett for the good times, that awesome playoff win over the Rams, and the good games he directed, he's not a bad coach, he may yet get another shot to be a head coach one day, perhaps if Shanahan were to ever step down in D.C., Haslett could be a logical choice to take over.

re: A tribute to the haslett era (Posted on 5/2/13 at 4:06 pm to SaintlyTiger88)

If you look at Haslett's first team, there were a lot of guys with lots of experience coming together at the right time.

Guys like Darren Perry, Chris Oldham, Jake Reed, Andrew Glover, Jeff Blake, Darren Smith, Willie Jackson and Kevin Mathis -- all contributed to the one season turnaround and a playoff win (something Mora could never achieve with the franchise)

Haslett was the right guy for the time. He was no nonsense and he didn't care about the teams historical struggles. He just did his thing, the team bought in and went on an amazing run that first season.

Haslett coached through some crippling injuries that season. We lost a few projected starters to season ending injuries in the pre-season and guys like Blake, Ricky Williams and Fred Weary during the season. We had Gerald Moore and Terry Allen off the streets starting for us in the Wild Card game. Haslett kept them together.

The problem was trying to duplicate that success of the first season. The old guys were older. Guys like Jay Bellamy, Grady Jackson, Dale Carter and Brian Cox didn't pan out completely. The new qb on the block forced the departure of Blake in 01' and Haslett's dedication to Brooks, cost us a playoff berth in 02'.

Haslett didn't adjust to the needs of the team year to year. I appreciated his time here, for giving us at least mediocrity when all we'd had was terrible for such a long stretch.

re: A tribute to the haslett era (Posted on 5/2/13 at 4:39 pm to cleeveclever)

Lol damn cleeve, all those names bring back memories, I haven't heard those names in a LONG time!! I started watching the Saints back in the 1999-2000 season, so those were the guys who were playing when I first started watching! And don't forget Cam Cleeland, whom your name reminds me of!